Yemen Dialogue: Journalists overcome biases | Middle East/North Africa | DW | 19.12.2014
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Middle East/North Africa

Yemen Dialogue: Journalists overcome biases

Conflicts are frequent in Yemen - between the north and the south, for example, or between traditional elites and young reformers. Journalists from across Yemen learned more about resolution at a workshop in Berlin.

Visiting Germany’s Bundesrat (upper house of parliament): Mokhtar Gamil Al-Qadasi (left) and Hussein Ba Sleem (photo: DW Akademie/Nadine Wojcik).

Visiting Germany's Bundesrat (upper house of parliament): Mokhtar Gamil Al-Qadasi (left) and Hussein Ba Sleem

It's time for the final feedback round for the nine Yemeni editorial heads and media managers taking part in the DW Akademie workshop. Training cards are up on the boards, hand-written in German and Arabic, and with key words like "journalism ethics", "no press code" or "lack of training opportunities". For the past five days participants have been working intensively together. "I've especially enjoyed the exchanges," says Fathi bin Lazrq, editor-in-chief of the "Aden Al-Ghad" newspaper. "We've come closer together and we're taking that back with us."

In Yemen, most media are either directly or indirectly in the hands of political parties. When the political arena becomes highly polarized, media add to the tensions by producing biased reports, reporting rumors as facts, and denouncing political opponents.

"Most journalists in Yemen are first and foremost mouthpieces for the parties," says Antje Bauer, project manager with DW Akademie. "Their real responsibility as journalists - to inform the public - plays a side role."

The project, Bauer says, is about bringing journalists together and creating a dialogue so that they become less skeptical of each other and start respecting each other's views. The aim, she says, is for this to be reflected in well-balanced and unbiased reports.

Introduction to conflict resolution

Yemen journalists at the German Bundesrat (photo: DW Akademie/Nadine Wojcik).

Could the federal system be a possible model for Yemen? Yemen journalists at the German Bundesrat

The nine journalists met for the first time in June 2014 at a workshop in Istanbul. Things weren't always harmonious at first - some journalists objected to sitting next to each other and political discussions often got heated. But as the workshop progressed, participants began talking more openly about the political, social and cultural issues affecting their regions, and learned more about the perspectives of their counterparts.

The participants stayed in contact after the initial workshop and in their reports at times reflected the views of the other side. "As soon as I got back to Sanaa I taught my staff about the rules for conflict-sensitive reporting," said Hussein Ba Sleem, proudly. He is head of the state television channel.

Four months later and any trace of the initial reservations had disappeared. "It was as if we'd known each for a long time," said Mokhtar Gamil Al-Qadasi, director of the TV channel, Al-Saida, as he summarized the follow-up workshop in Berlin. Debates on press ethics and Yemen's current media landscape were on the program, as were visits and discussions with the Bundesrat (upper house of the German parliament), Hamburg's state offices in Berlin, and the Berlin-Brandenburg public broadcaster.

"Political education was an important aspect," says DW Akademie trainer Maria Frauenrath who has worked in conflict regions for over 25 years. "Participants were introduced to various models - how governments can be run federally, for example, or how cultural minorities can gain more autonomy."

Establishing journalism standards together

Mokhtar Gamil Al-Qadasi, director of the TV channel, Al-Saida (photo: DW Akademie/Nadine Wojcik).

Mokhtar Gamil Al-Qadasi, director of the TV channel, Al-Saida

Discussions were lively and even journalists from the country's secessionist south said Germany's federal system could in fact be a model for Yemen. The journalists dialogue project, says Antje Bauer, aims to increase conflict-sensitive reporting in Yemen. "Journalists are now aware that they can focus on conflict resolutions instead of just reporting on fighting and atrocities."

The participants from northern and southern Yemen have since decided to take on a significant media project and this time develop a press code - together. "We can learn from Germany's experiences," said Ali Hamid Maarof, deputy director of the northern Yemen TV channel, As-Sahhat. And Fathi bin Lazrq from Aden in southern Yemen added, "If we're able to report more objectively, it'll be thanks to DW Akademie."


DW Akademie became active in Yemen long before the 2011 political transition got underway. In 2005 DW Akademie began offering workshops and consultations for state radio and television in both Sanaa and Aden. For the past two years it has also offered training for journalists with the independent radio station "Yemen Times". Funding for both the "Yemen Times" project and the two-part 2014 dialogue for Yemen journalists is provided by Germany's Federal Foreign Office.

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  • Date 19.12.2014
  • Author Nadine Wojcik / hw
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  • Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/1E7Sv
  • Date 19.12.2014
  • Author Nadine Wojcik / hw
  • Print Print this page
  • Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/1E7Sv